Content Channels for Electronic Messaging

ABSTRACT

Techniques are described to provide content channels for electronic messaging. In an implementation, a content channel may be configured to contain multiple content portions having various types of content for delivery to one or more clients. The content channel may be associated with an electronic message such as an email or instant message. The content channel and updates to the content channel may be pushed to the clients as electronic messages in an electronic messaging environment. The clients may expose a user interface having one or more portions that are arranged to present and provide interaction with the content channel. The content channel may be pinned within a designated portion of the user interface to enable repeated access to the content channel via the designated portion.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of and claims priority under 35U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/414,380 filed on Mar.30, 2009 and titled “Content Channels for Electronic Messaging,” thedisclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.

BACKGROUND

The popularity of social networking via online networking sites is everincreasing. One traditional technique that may be utilized to providesocial networking involves publishing information (e.g., pictures,videos, text, discussion, and so forth) for a social group withinwebpages that are accessible over a public network, e.g. the Internet.

However, this traditional approach to social networking includesinherent privacy risks due the online publishing of group and/or userinformation. Further, accessing a traditional social networking site mayinvolve a user navigating to the site, signing up for an account, andentering login information each time access is desired. As such, it maybe quite inconvenient for a user to access information from atraditional social networking site. Therefore, the privacy risks andinconvenience associated with traditional social networking sites mayact as barriers for some users.

SUMMARY

Techniques are described to provide content channels for electronicmessaging. In an implementation, a content channel may be configured tocontain multiple content portions having various types of content fordelivery to one or more clients. The content channel may be associatedwith an electronic message such as an email or instant message. Thecontent channel and updates to the content channel may be pushed to theclients as electronic messages in an electronic messaging environment.The clients may expose a user interface having one or more portions thatare arranged to present and provide interaction with the contentchannel. The content channel may be pinned within a designated portionof the user interface to enable repeated access to the content channelvia the designated portion.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different instances in thedescription and the figures may indicate similar or identical items.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an environment in an example implementationthat is operable to provide content channel techniques for electronicmessaging.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a system in an example implementationshowing clients and service providers of FIG. 1 in greater detail.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting a procedure in an exampleimplementation in which content channels are distributed by a serviceprovider.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting a procedure in an exampleimplementation in which a client configures a content channel.

FIG. 5 illustrates a procedure in an example implementation in which aclient receives and interacts with a content channel.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example user interface having contentchannel portions in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of another example user interface havingcontent channel portions in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an example device in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

One traditional approach to accessing content on a web site involves auser navigating to the site, signing up for an account, and enteringlogin information each time access is desired. As such, it may beinconvenient for a user to access information from a traditional website. Further, users may be reluctant to post personal information onpublic web sites (e.g., social networking sites) due to privacyconcerns. Accordingly, privacy concerns and inconvenience associatedwith traditional web sites may detract from the user experience and/orprevent some users from even using the sites.

Content channels are described that enable configuration and delivery of“rich” content through an electronic messaging environment. The contentchannels may be configured much like webpages and may be delivered usingelectronic messages. As such, content channels may combine authoringaspects of webpages with distribution aspects of electronic messaging tocreate techniques to deliver “rich” content that is pushed to clients.As used herein, “rich” content may refer to content channels configuredto integrate and arrange a variety of types and portions of content. Byway of example, content integrated to form a content channel may includetext, images, video, blogs, message boards, feeds, applets, and scripts,to name a few.

In contrast to traditional electronic messages, content associated witha content channel may be configured to automatically update when anauthor makes changes. Unlike traditional webpages, content channels andupdates to the content channels may be pushed to designated recipientsvia email, instant messaging, personal messaging from within a socialnetwork site or other webpage, and the like. Further, portions to enableinteraction with content channels may be incorporated within a messaginguser interface that is output by a messaging client for interaction witha messaging service, such as an email service, a personal messagingservice, and/or an instant messaging service.

In an implementation a channel tool may be employed by a client toenable selection, customization, and arrangement of various types andportions of content for configuration of content channels. Contentchannels may be configured using hypertext transfer markup language(HTML), extensible markup language (XML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS),JavaScript, and other suitable programming languages and/or codingtechniques. In particular, a content channel may be authored usingtools, techniques, and interfaces traditionally associated with creatinga webpage. A content channel may then be addressed to one or morerecipients using electronic messaging addresses (e.g., a distributionlist).

For example, Adam may have a group of friends from college whocommunicate regularly by email. Adam may employ a channel tool at aclient to create a content channel associated with the group. Thechannel tool may enable Adam to configure the content channel through anemail application. By way of example, Adam may configure the contentchannel to include an area to display some pictures of his friends, amessage board, links associated with the college, and so forth. Adam maythen compose an email message to associate with the content channel andselect addresses of his college friends from his email contacts. Adammay then distribute the email and associated content channel by sendingthe email from his email application.

Adam's friend Brad receives the email, which may be presented within auser interface of his email client. For example, Adam's email may appearin Brad's inbox with an indication that it corresponds to a contentchannel. In one example, the indication may be an icon that isselectable to subscribe to the content channel. Brad may select Adam'semail to view and/or obtain the associated content channel. Forinstance, responsive to Brad's selection, the content channel may bepresented in a message display portion of Brad's email client. Brad mayselect the icon or otherwise interact to subscribe to Adam's contentchannel. By doing so, the content channel may be “pinned” to a contentchannel location within Brad's email client. For example, the contentchannel may appear as an item in a content channel list each time Braduse his email client. When Adam (or another friend) updates content ofthe content channel, the update may be pushed to Brad and/or anindication of the new content may appear with the item in the contentchannel list.

In the discussion that follows, a section entitled “Example Environment”describes an example environment and devices, which may be employed toprovide content channels in various embodiments. Following this, asection entitled “Example Procedures” describes example techniquesrelated to content channels for electronic messaging in accordance withone or more embodiments. After that, a section entitled “Example UserInterfaces” describes example messaging user interfaces which may beconfigured to provide interaction with content channels. Last, a sectionentitled “Example Devices” is provided and describes example devicesthat may be used to implement one or more embodiments.

Example Environment

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example environment 100 that is operableto provide content channels for electronic messaging. The illustratedenvironment 100 includes one or more service providers 102, one or moreclients 104, and one or more clients 106 that are communicativelycoupled, one to another, over a network 108. For purposes of thefollowing discussion, a referenced component, such as client 104, mayrefer to one or more entities, and therefore by convention reference maybe made to a single entity (e.g., the client 104) or multiple entities(e.g., the clients 104, the plurality of clients 104, and so on) usingthe same reference number.

The clients 104 and clients 106 may be configured in a variety of waysfor communicating one to another and/or for accessing one or moreservice providers 102. Clients 104 and 106 may represent various devicessuitable to perform messaging via one or more messaging systems. Forexample, the clients 104 and 106 may be configured as a computer, suchas a desktop computer, a mobile station, a laptop, an entertainmentappliance, a multimedia device, a set-top box communicatively coupled toa display device, a wireless phone, a game console, and so forth. Thus,the clients 104 and clients 106 may range from full resource deviceswith substantial memory and processor resources (e.g., personalcomputers, game consoles) to low-resource devices with limited memory,processing and/or display resources (e.g., traditional set-top boxes,hand-held game consoles, wireless phones). For purposes of the followingdiscussion, the clients 104 and/or clients 106 may also relate to aperson and/or entity that operates the clients. In other words, one ormore of the clients 104 and clients 106 may describe logical clientsthat include users, software, and/or devices.

Although the network 108 is illustrated as the Internet, the network mayassume a wide variety of configurations. For example, the network 108may include a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), awireless network, a public telephone network, an intranet, and so on.Further, although a single network 108 is shown, the network 108 may beconfigured to include multiple networks.

The service providers 102 are each illustrated as having a respectiveservice manager module 110. The service manager module 110 representsfunctionality operable by a service provider 102 to manage variousservices 112(k) (where “k” may be any integer from one to “K”) that maybe made available over the network 108. For example, service managermodule 110 may manage access to services 112(k), performance of theservices 112(k) (e.g., load balancing), and so on. Although illustratedseparately, the functionality represented by the service manager module110 may be incorporated within the services 112(k) themselves.

The services 112(k) may be configured in a variety of ways to provide avariety of functionality to the clients 104 and clients 106 over thenetwork 108. For example, the services 112(k) may be configured foraccess via platform-independent protocols and standards to exchange dataover the network 108. The services 112(k), for instance, may be providedvia an Internet-hosted module that is accessed via standardized networkprotocols, such as a simple object access protocol (SOAP) over hypertexttransfer protocol (HTTP), extensible markup language (XML), and so on.

A variety of services 112(k) are contemplated. For example, services112(k) may include a search 112(1) service (e.g., an Internet searchengine to search the Internet), an email 112(2) service to send andreceive email, instant messaging 112(3) service to provide instantmessaging between the clients 104 and clients 106, and an a socialnetwork 112(4) service to facilitate connections and interactionsbetween groups of users who share common interests and activities.Social network 112(4) service may assist user in connecting to a group,provide a variety of ways for users to interact (e.g., group email,website, blog, messaging), and provide recommendations to the groupsbased upon shared interests and activities. Additional examples ofservices 112(k) include a shopping 112(5) service (e.g., “ecommerce”), aweb log 112(6) service (i.e., blog), productivity 112(7) service, andauthentication service 112(8).

The productivity 112(7) service may provide various productivityapplications as a service, such as word processing, spreadsheets,presentations, drawings, note-taking, and so on. For example, networkaccess may be given to a client 104 to applications that weretraditionally executed locally on the client 104, itself. Therefore,execution of the applications may be performed remotely at a serviceprovider 102 and results of the execution may be communicated over thenetwork 108 to the clients 104.

The authentication service 112(8) may also be operable to authenticateclients 104 and clients 106 to access various services 112(k) providedby one or more of the service providers 102. Authentication service112(8) represents functionality operable to perform various suitableauthentication techniques to authenticate clients. For instance, theclient 104 may provide a username and password that is authenticated bythe authentication service 112(8). When the authentication is successful(i.e., the client 104 “is who they say they are”), the authenticationservice 112(8) may pass a token to enable access to correspondingservices 112(k).

Authentication of a client 104, such as by “signing in” to an emailaccount, may provide access to a single corresponding service provider102 and/or service 112(k). Additionally or alternatively, a singleauthentication may correspond to many services 112(k), such thatauthentication to a single account may provide access to many serviceproviders 102 and/or to an entire suite of services 112(k) provided by asingle service provider 102. Thus, rather than authenticate separatelyto each individual service provider 102 or service 112(k), clients 104may perform a “single sign-on” (e.g., perform a single verification ofcredentials) to access a plurality of services 112(k) from one or moreof the service providers 102.

Although some examples of services 112(k) have been described, it shouldbe apparent that a wide variety of other services 112(k) are alsocontemplated, such as a desktop search service, a gadget service, a chatservice, a news service, an advertisement service, and so on. Services112(k) may be provided by one or more service providers 102 in variouscombinations. Each of the services 112(k) may also be implemented as astandalone service.

Service providers 102 are also depicted as including a channel managermodule 114. Channel manager module 114 represents functionality operableto implement aspects of techniques to provide content channels forelectronic messages. For instance, functionality provided by channelmanager module 114 may include, but is not limited to, configuring acontent channel, enabling users to create content channels, distributinga content channel to a distribution list, causing updates to contentchannels, tracking content channel subscriptions, and so forth. Asdescribed above, content channels provide mechanisms to include “rich”content within messaging user interfaces configured for electronicmessages. While illustrated separately, channel manager module 114 maybe implemented as a component of the service manager module 110.

To enable interaction with services 112(k), the service manager module110 may form and/or output a user interface 116 (or data sufficient toform the user interface 116) to enable client 104 and client 106 tointeract with the services 112(k). Service manager module 110 may alsoinclude or make use of a channel manager module 114 to configure theuser interface for content channels. In at least some embodiments,content channels may be presented within a communication user interface,such as within a user interface 116 output to provide interaction withemail service 112(2), instant messaging service 112(3), a social networkservice 112(4), and/or other services 112(k).

Clients 104 and clients 106 are depicted as including respectivecommunication modules 118 through which various interactions withservice providers 102 and services 112(k) may occur. Examples of suchinteractions include but are not limited to communicating one toanother, navigating content, searching and selecting web pages,accessing services 112(k), performing searches, instant messaging,email, and so on. The service manager module 110 may communicate theuser interface 116 and/or data used to form the user interface 116 tothe clients 104 and clients 106 via the network 108. The communicationmodule 118 is further representative of functionality to obtain the userinterface 116 or data communicated via the service manager module 110.Communication module 118 may then render a corresponding user interface116′ at the client 104. Examples of communication module 118 include anemail application, an instant messaging application, and a browser, toname a few.

Communication module 118 may be further operable to enable a client 104to form an electronic message 120 and communicate the electronic message120 over the network to a client 106, and vice versa. Electronicmessages 120 may include email, instant messages, messages sent tofriends via a personal message service provided within a social networkservice or other service, and text messages to name a few examples. Asdepicted in FIG. 1, an electronic message 120 may incorporate orotherwise be associated with a content channel 122. In accordance withtechniques described herein, electronic messages 120 may be configuredto distribute content channels 122 and/or invitations toobtain/subscribe to content channels 122.

Clients 104 and clients 106 are also depicted as including respectivechannel tools 124. The channel tool 124 represents functionalityoperable on the “client-side” to implement aspects of techniques toprovide content channels 122 for electronic messages. For instance,functionality provided by channel tool 124 may include, but is notlimited to, configuring a content channel 122, enabling users to createcontent channels 122, subscribing to content channels 122, distributinga content channel 122 to a distribution list, receiving and processingupdates to content channels 122, and so forth. While illustratedseparately, channel tool 124 may be implemented as a component of thecommunication module 118. Further discussion of techniques to enablecontent channels 122 may be found in relation to the following figures.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a system 200 in an example implementationshowing a service provider 102, client 104, and client 106 of FIG. 1 ingreater detail. The system 200 may be configured as a messaging systemto enable electronic messages to be communicated via various messagingdevices. In FIG. 2, the service provider 102 is illustrated as beingimplemented by one or more servers and the clients 104 and 106 areillustrated as client devices. For example, the client 104 is depictedas a messaging device that includes a processor 202 and memory 204.Service provider 102 and client 106 may also be implemented as devicesthat each includes one or more processors and memory. A furtherdiscussion of example devices may be found below in a section titled“Example Devices”.

In the example system 200, communication module 118 is depicted as beingexecuted via the processor 202 and is also storable via the memory 204.Further, a channel tool 124 is depicted as incorporated with thecommunication module 118. The client 104 may make use of the channeltool 124 to configure a content channel 122 for communication to theclient 106. For example, channel tool 124 may interact in various wayswith channel manager module 114 of a service provider 102 to configure acontent channel 124. In at least some embodiments, this involvescreating various data to define the content channel 122.

A variety of channel data to define a content channel 122 is depicted asbeing stored with a content channel 122 in the memory 204. Examples ofdata that may define a content channel 122 include, but are not limitedto, distribution 206 data that may describe one or more recipientsand/or messaging addresses, permission 208 data that designates accessand/or interaction permissions (e.g. view, edit, post), and content 210data to define content selections and arrangement for a content channel122. A variety of other 212 data is also contemplated, such as a contentchannel identifier, author/owner data, one or more data fields or flagsdetectable by a client 106 to determine that a received electronicmessage contains or corresponds to a content channel 122, deliverypreferences, and so forth.

A client 104 may make use of email service 112(2) from a serviceprovider 102 to distribute a content channel 122 as an electronicmessage 120 (e.g., an email) to designated recipients. In at least someembodiments, the electronic message 120 includes content 210 data forthe associated content channel 122. Additionally or alternatively, atleast some portions of the content 210 data for a content channel 122may be distributed separately from a corresponding electronic message120. Channel manager module 114 may operate to manage how and/or whencontent channels 122 and associated content 210 data are distributed toa client 106 designated to receive the content channel 122. For example,an electronic message 120 may be configured to enable a client 106receiving the message to subscribe to an associated content channel 122.Rather than sending content 210 data with a distributed electronicmessage 122, channel manager module 114 may track subscribers to thecontent channel 122 and push or otherwise communicate associated content210 data to the subscribers separately from the electronic message 120.

Client 106 is depicted in FIG. 2 as storing channel data 214. Thechannel data 214 of client 106 represents data describing contentchannels 122 and/or associated data that have been communicated by theclient 104 and received by the client 106. Channel data 214 may alsodescribe subscriptions to various content channels 122, displaypreferences, customizations, and so forth. Channel tool 124 may make useof the channel data 214 to configure a user interface 116′ to enableinteraction with content channels 122. In at least some embodiments, thechannel data 214 is stored locally at the client 106. By so doing,deficiencies associated with posting channel data 214 and/or userinformation publicly, such as within a traditional posted web page, maybe avoided.

Having considered examples of an environment, systems, and devices,example procedures are described for content channels that may beimplemented using the example environment, systems, and devices.

Example Procedures

The following discussion describes content channel techniques forelectronic messaging that may be implemented utilizing the previouslydescribed systems and devices. Aspects of each of the procedures may beimplemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof.The procedures are shown as a set of blocks that specify operationsperformed by one or more devices and are not necessarily limited to theorders shown for performing the operations by the respective blocks. Inportions of the following discussion, reference may be made to theenvironment 100 of FIG. 1 and/or the system 200 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 depicts a procedure 300 in an example implementation in whichcontent channels are distributed by a service provider. In at least someembodiments, procedure 300 may be performed by a suitably configuredservice provider, such as service provider 102 of FIG. 1 having achannel manager module 114.

Configuration is enabled of a content channel (block 302). For example,channel manager module 114 of a service provider 102 may enable variousinteractions of a client 104 to configure content channels through auser interface 116. The user interface 116 may represent a messaginguser interface, such as an interface exposed to provide interaction withemail service 112(2). Channel manager module 114 may present variousconfiguration options via the user interface 116. For example, thechannel manager module 114 may enable a selection of preconfiguredcontent portions, channel templates, images, icons, modules, applets,scripts, and so forth to include in a content channel 122. Channelmanager module 114 may also expose tools operable to author contentportions, edit and/or customize existing content selections, arrangecontent in various layouts, update a content channel 122, and so forth.A client 104 may communicate with the service provider 102 over anetwork 108 to configure a content channel 122 using the exposedinterfaces, options, tools and techniques, further discussion of whichmay be found in relation to FIG. 4.

The content channel is distributed as an electronic message todesignated recipients to enable local interaction with the contentchannel (block 304). For example, channel manager module 114 may receivea content channel 122 that is configured by a client 104. As part ofconfiguring a content channel 122, the client 104 may designate one ormore recipients to receive the content channel 122. This may occur byselecting email addresses or other messaging addresses from a contactlist to create a distribution list. The client 104 may then perform asend operation to send the content channel 122 to the service provider102 and cause distribution of the content channel 122.

The channel manager module 114 may operate to receive the contentchannel 122, determine the selected recipients from the distributionlist, and distribute the content channel as an electronic message 120 tothe recipients. In one example, a content channel 122 may be configuredas part of an electronic message 120 that is formed by the client 104.Additionally or alternatively, an association between the contentchannel 122 and an electronic message 120 may be formed by the client104 or by the channel manager module 114.

Distribution of the content channel 122 may then occur in various ways.In one example, the electronic message 120 may be configured to containthe content channel 122 for output by a recipient. In another example,the electronic message 120 may be configured to notify a recipient ofand/or enable access to the content channel 122.

Accordingly, content corresponding to a content channel 122 may bepushed to a client 106 with or separately from the electronic message120. In each case, data corresponding to a content channel 122 may bepushed to each recipient and stored locally to enable local access. Forinstance, channel data 214 of client 106 in FIG. 2 may represent locallystored data for content channels 122. Accordingly, distribution ofcontent channels 122 may occur without posting corresponding datapublicly or maintaining the data on a publicly accessible server, whichmay reduce privacy risks and concerns.

FIG. 4 depicts a procedure 400 in an example implementation in which aclient configures a content channel. In at least some embodiments,procedure 400 may be performed by a suitably configured client, such asa client 104 or a client 106 of FIG. 2 having a channel tool 124.

A content channel is configured via a client (block 402). For example, aclient 104 as depicted in FIG. 2 may execute a channel tool 124 toconfigure a content channel 122. This may involve interaction over thenetwork 108 with a channel manager module 114 of a service provider 102.In at least some embodiments, the channel tool 124 may be implemented asa component of a communication module 118, such as an email applicationor browser. For instance, the client 104 may execute the communicationmodule 118 to obtain a user interface 116 exposed by the serviceprovider 102 and output a corresponding user interface 116′ that isoperable to configure content channels 122 using the channel tool 124.The channel tool 124 may also be configured as a standalone application.

The channel tool 124 may enable content channels 122 to be configuredvia a client using a markup language such as hypertext transfer markuplanguage (HTML) or extensible markup language (XML), Cascading StyleSheets (CSS), JavaScript, and/or other suitable programming languagesand coding techniques. In particular, a content channel 122 may beauthored using tools, techniques, and interfaces traditionallyassociated with creating a webpage.

A service provider 102 may expose various configuration options that areselectable to perform the configuration as discussed in relation to FIG.3. Channel tool 124 may be operable to access the configuration optionsin various ways for configuration of a content channel 122. For exampletools, templates, content portions, and/or other configuration optionsmay be accessed by communication with the service provider 102 over anetwork 108. In this example, configuration of a content channel 122 mayoccur by back and forth communication between the channel tool 124 of aclient 104 and one or more servers of a service provider 102, e.g.,network execution over the network 108. Channel tool 124 may also enabledownloading of various configuration options to a client 104 for localexecution.

Consider an example scenario in which Mike just had a new baby. Mike maywish to share memories of his newborn with a social network of friendsand family. To do so, Mike may create a “Mike's Baby” channel usingtechniques describes herein. Mike may make use of an email applicationor other communication module 118 having an associated channel tool 124to create his channel. For instance, when Mike goes to compose an emailusing his email application, an option to create a content channel 122may be presented by operation of the channel tool 124. By selecting thisoption, Mike is able to access a variety of configuration options toauthor a content channel 122 including a variety of content. Forexample, Mike may include and arrange images, captions, and a blog forhis “Mike's Baby” channel. “Mike's Baby” channel may also includeinteractive and dynamic content such as a video applet, a slide showapplet, and a group discussion thread section. To create the contentchannel 122, Mike may select preconfigured content portions availablevia the channel tool 124 and/or author custom content portions for hiscontent channel 122.

The content channel is distributed as an electronic message to one ormore recipients (block 404). In the preceding example, Mike may addressand send his “Mike's Baby” channel to friends and family in a familiarway using his email application. For instance, Mike may access hiscontact list and select messaging addresses for his parents, hisbrother, and some friends to create a distribution list. Mike hits sendand an electronic message 120 is sent to distribute his content channel122 to his selected friends and family members. The content channel 122may be configured as part of the electronic message 120, or as a payloadassociated with the electronic message 120. Accordingly, the contentchannel 122 may be communicated to the recipients with the electronicmessage 120 or as a payload separate from the electronic message 120.Various interaction may occur with a content channel 122 when receivedby a client 104 or client 106, further discussion of which may be foundin relation to FIG. 5.

The content channel is updated to cause an update of the content channelto be communicated to the one or more recipients (block 406). Forinstance, channel tool 124 may be operable to update a content channel122 that has been previously sent. The content channel 122 may beaccessed and edited in various ways via the channel tool 124. This mayinclude adding content, changing content portions, rearranging layout ofa content channel 122, and so forth. Updating may also include adding orremoving recipients. When an update occurs, the channel tool 124 maypush the updated content channel 122 to the one or more recipients. Inat least some embodiments, the push of an update to the recipientsoccurs automatically and without user action to send the update.Additionally or alternatively, an option selectable to send an updatemay be exposed in response to user action to update the content channel122.

For example, when Mike creates his “Mike's Baby” channel, the channelmay be “pinned” within a user interface for his email application. Mikemay choose to update his “Mike's Baby” content channel frequently withnew baby pictures and comments. To do so, Mike may access the “Mike'sBaby” channel via his email application and make changes using theassociated channel tool 124. After completing the update, Mike selectssend to cause the update for his “Mike's Baby” content channel to becommunicated to Mike's friends and family members. Alternatively, Mikemay configure the channel tool 124 to send updates for “Mike's Baby”channel and/or other content channels 122 automatically in response tochanges and without Mike having to perform a send action.

Note that a content channel 122 may include one or more interactiveportions that may be updated by recipients. For example, a contentchannel 122 may be configured to allow recipients to add photos, makediscussion section entries, comment on videos, and so forth. As withupdates that are made by an author/owner of a content channel 122,updates made by recipients may also be pushed to other recipients and/orto the author/owner using the distribution list for the content channel122.

Permission 208 data associated with a content channel 122 may beconfigured to control who is able to perform updates, what content maybe updated, and so forth. An author of a content channel 122 mayconfigure permission 208 data when the content channel is created andchanges permissions thereafter. Permissions may be controlled using themessaging addresses for the recipients (e.g., the distribution list)and/or associated user accounts. For example, a client that isauthenticated to use a particular email account may have associatedpermissions set for an email address of the account with respect to aparticular content channel 122. Thus, Mike may give his mom permissionto upload photos to the “Mike's Baby” channel, and each friend andfamily member may have permission to add to the discussion thread. Ofcourse, Mike has permission as an author to update the “Mike's Baby”channel as he chooses.

In at least some embodiments, recipients of a content channel 122 maychoose whether to subscribe to the content channel 122. In this case,subscribers to the content channel 122 may be identified and/or tracked.For example, service provider 102 may make use of a channel managermodule 114 to store data indentifying subscribers to a content channel122. In this manner, the service provider 102 may keep track ofsubscriptions and/or subscribers. Updates to content channels 122 may beselectively pushed based on the subscriptions. Thus, when an update to acontent channel 122 occurs, channel manager module 114 may communicatethe update to the subscribers and not to non-subscribers.

FIG. 5 depicts a procedure 500 in an example implementation in which aclient receives and interacts with content channels. In at least someembodiments, procedure 500 may be performed by a suitably configuredclient, such as client 104 or client 106 of FIG. 2 having a channel tool124.

An electronic message is received at a client (block 502). This mayoccur by execution of a communication module 118 of a client 106 toobtain services 112(k) from a service provider 102. In particular, theclient 106 may obtain messaging service, such as email 112(2) serviceand/or instant messaging 112(3) service. Various electronic messages 120may be obtained via the service provider 102 and output in a userinterface 116′, such as displaying of messages in an email inbox.

The client ascertains that the electronic message is configured toenable a content channel (block 504). For example, at least some of theelectronic messages 120 received by a client 106 may be associated withcontent channels 122. These may include electronic messages 120configured as a content channel 122 and/or those configured to enableaccess to an associated content channel 122. Communication module 118may include or otherwise make use of a channel tool 124 to ascertainwhich received messages are configured to enable content channels 122.One way this may occur is by detecting data embedded with the message toindicate that the message is associated with a content channel 122.Various flags, fields, identifiers and/or other suitable data may beemployed and detected by a client 106 to enable identification ofcontent channels 122.

The electronic message is presented via a user interface having aportion to identify the message as a content channel (block 506) andinteraction with the content channel is enabled via a least one portionof the user interface (block 508). For instance, when channel tool 124ascertains that a message is associated with content channel 122, themessage may be processed and displayed accordingly. This may includeoutputting indications via user interface 116′ to identify contentchannels 122 to users. For example, an icon or other suitable identifiermay be placed next to or otherwise in proximity to the message in aninbox list.

Further, various interaction with content channels 122 may be enabledvia the user interface 116′. For example, a content channel list portionof the user interface 116′ may be exposed that lists new and/or activecontent channels. When a content channel 122 is selected, the associatedcontent may be output in a message display portion of the user interface116′. Further, an option to subscribe to a content channel 122 may beexposed in the user interface 116′. For instance, a “subscribe” linkoperable to subscribe to a content channel 122 may appear with themessage in the inbox and/or in the content channel list portion.Subscribing to the content channel 122 may cause the content channel 112to be “pinned” within a portion of the user interface 116′. For example,a content channel item corresponding to the content channel 122 mayappear in the content channel list portion. A user may then access thecontent channel 122 via the portion to which the content channel 122 hasbeen “pinned”. This access may occur repeatedly during current andfuture sessions with the user's messaging service. Additional discussionregarding messaging user interfaces configured to enable interactionwith content channels may be found in the section below titled “UserInterface Examples”.

An update available for the content channel is detected (block 510) andan indication of the available update is output via the user interface(block 512). As discussed, updates to a content channel 122 by an owneror by recipients may be pushed to a distribution list. A channel tool124 at a client 106 may operate to detect when updates are available. Inone example, the channel tool 124 receives and processes an updatemessage corresponding to a content channel 122 that was previouslyreceived. In another example, channel tool 124 may operate toperiodically check for available updates from the service provider 102.When an update is available of a content channel 122, the channel tool124 may operate to reflect the availability of the update via the userinterface 116′. One way this may occur is by using a status identifier,such as an icon or emphasized text, to indicate that new content orother updates to a content channel 122 are available.

For example, electronic messages 120 associated with content channels122 may be indicated as new using various techniques when they areinitially received, such as by emphasis of a subject line or use of astatus identifier. The new indication may disappear followinginteraction with the message. With content channels 122, channel tool124 may cause these indications to reappear when someone updates acontent channel 122. For example, content channel items in a portion towhich content channels 122 have been “pinned” may be selectively changedfrom having standard text to bold text to reflect when new content isavailable. Alternatively, an icon or other identifier may appear,disappear, and reappear with a “pinned” item to reflect when new contentis available for a corresponding content channel 122.

Consider again the foregoing example of the “Mike's Baby” channel thatMike distributes to friends and family. When Mike's mom opens her emailapplication, Mike's content channel message may appear in her inbox. Themessage may have a bold subject line to indicate that the message isnew. A subscribe link and/or a content channel identifier (e.g., animage or icon) may appear in the inbox next the subject line. WhenMike's mom chooses to subscribe, the “Mike's Baby” channel is “pinned”within the user interface for her email application, such as by listinga “Mike's Baby” item in a content channel list portion of the userinterface. Mike's content channel message may also be removed from herinbox. Mike's mom may then select the content channel 122 and view thecontent that Mike configured in a message display portion of the userinterface. When Mike (or someone else) updates the “Mike's Baby” contentchannel, the “Mike's Baby” item included in the content channel listportion of the user interface may appear bold or appear with anothersuitable status identifier to indicate to Mike's mom that new content isavailable.

Having considered examples procedures related to content channels,consider now example user interfaces that may be employed to provideinteraction with content channels in one or more embodiments.

Example User Interfaces

Referring now to FIG. 6, an implementation 600 is illustrated showing anexample user interface 116′ that includes one or more portions to enableinteraction with content channels. The user interface 116′ in thisinstance is illustrated as incorporated within a user interface 602 thatmay be provided by the communication module 118. For example, thecommunication module 118 may be configured as a browser operable toexpose the user interface 602 to enable interaction with one or moreservice providers 102 and corresponding services 112(k).

To provide the interaction with services 112(k), the user interface 602includes a menu bar 604, an address bar 606, and a search bar 608. Themenu bar 604 is a portion of the user interface 602 that includesdrop-down menus of commands, examples of which are illustrated as“file”, “edit”, “favorites”, “tools” and “help”. The address bar 606 isconfigured to receive inputs to navigate to particular network addressesand/or display current network addresses, from which, the client 106 hasreceived content that is being displayed. The search bar 608 may beoperable to conduct a variety of searches including searches forwebpages, images, news, and so forth.

In the example of FIG. 6, the user interface 116′ within the userinterface 602 of a browser is configured as an email client to enableinteraction of a client 106 with email 112(2) service. A comparable userinterface 116 may also be configured for interaction with instantmessaging 112(3) service, web log 112(6) service, and/or other services112(k). Although depicted as being part of the user interface 602 of abrowser, a user interface 116′ may also be provided by a standaloneapplications of the client 106, such as a standalone email client, aninstant messaging client, a personal information management program, ora desktop social networking application, to name a few. In each case,the user interface 116′ may make use of a channel tool 124 to enablevarious interaction with content channels 122.

In particular, the user interface 116′ includes a folder list 610 toorganize and manage messages, a message inbox 612 to display a list ofreceived messages, a message display area 614 that may be configured todisplay content of a selected message, and a channel list 616 that maybe configured to provide various interactions with content channels 122.

The message display area 614 may be configured to display traditionalemails, as well as content channels 122. In the depicted example, themessage display area 614 presents a “Car Nuts” channel. Using techniquesdescribed herein, the “Car Nuts” channel may be configured to includeand arrange various content portions related to cars. A few examplecontent portions are illustrated including an image/slideshow 618portion to present images, an article 620 portion to provide text, news,stories, and the like, a video 622 portion, and a discussion thread 624.User interface 116′ may also include one or more advertisements, such asthe depicted advertisement 626. In at least some embodiments, one ormore advertisements 626 may be included as portions of a content channel122.

The channel list 616 may be configured to output a list of contentchannels 122 within a dedicated area of the user interface 116′. In thismanner, content channels 122 may be presented and interacted with via adedicated channel portion that may appear separate from the inbox, othermessages, and/or other portions of the user interface 116′. The channellist 616 may include one or more portions to arrange a list of contentchannels in various ways. For instance, the example channel list 616includes an active channel list 628 and a new channel list 630. Theactive channel list 628 may represent content channels 122 to which auser has subscribed and are accordingly “pinned” to the active channellist 628. “Pinned” channels may continue to appear within the channellist 616 each time the user interface 116′ is accessed and/or rendered.

Items in the channel list 616 may be selected to cause appearance of acorresponding content channel 122 in the message display area 614. Notethat the “Car Nuts” channel appears as being selected in the activechannel list 628 to cause presentation within the message display area614. “College Friends” and “Fly Away Airlines” channels also appear inthe active channel list 628. A remove control that is selectable tounsubscribe to and/or “unpin” a corresponding content channel 122, suchas the depicted remove links, may appear with each item in the activechannel list 628 list. Selection of the remove control may cause acorresponding content channel 122 to be removed from the active channellist 628.

The new channel list 630 may represent content channels 122 to which auser may choose to subscribe. A subscribe control that is selectable tosubscribe to a corresponding content channel 122, such as the depictedsubscribe links, may appear with each item in the new channel list 630list. Selection of the subscribe control may cause a correspondingcontent channel 122 to be removed from the new channel list 630 andbecome “pinned” to the active channel list 628.

New and unread messages may be identified within the inbox 612 in somemanner, such as by appearing bold, being underlined as depicted in FIG.6, or otherwise being distinguished from messages that have been read.For example, messages from “Mom”, “Mike”, “Outdoor Store”, and “TommyCallahan” are depicted as new in the message inbox 612. Further,messages associated with content channels 122 may appear with anidentifier 632 to communicate the association to a content channel 122to users. In the depicted example, an identifier 632 configured as astar icon has been placed next to messages from “Mike” and “OutdoorStore”. Other suitable identifiers 632 are also contemplated such asother icons, a subscribe link, a button, an image, and so forth. In atleast some embodiments, the identifier 632 associated with a message isselectable to subscribe to an associated content channel 122. Selectionof the identifier 632 appearing with a message in the message inbox 612may cause a corresponding content channel 122 to be removed from themessage inbox 612 and become “pinned” to the active channel list 628.

The identifier 632 may also be used to denote when new content isavailable for a content channel 122. For instance, an example identifier632 configured as a star icon has been placed next to “Fly AwayAirlines” in the active channel list 628 to denote that new content isavailable for this content channel 122. The star icon may appearresponsive to an electronic message 120 that is pushed to a distributionlist when an update to the “Fly Away Airlines” channel occurs. Notethat, since the “Fly Away Airlines” channel has been “pinned”, theelectronic message 120 may not appear within the message inbox 612.Rather, the “Fly Away Airlines” item in the active channel list 628 isupdated to reflect the availability of new content. Followinginteraction with the “Fly Away Airlines” channel, the star icon may beremoved. The appearance and removal of an identifier 632 associated withitems in the channel list 616 may occur repeatedly to reflect whetherupdates are available for corresponding content channels 122.

To further illustrate aspects of user interfaces for interaction withcontent channels, consider again the example of the “Mike's Baby”channel above. As noted, Mike may create his “Mike's Baby” channel andsend an associated email to a distribution list to cause communicationof the channel to friends and family, including Kyle who is one ofMike's friends. Assume that the example user interface 116′ of FIG. 6corresponds to an email client that Kyle uses for his email. Kyle mayreceive an email message 634 associated with “Mike's Baby” channel thatappears in his message inbox 612. “Mike's Baby” channel may also appearas an item in the new channels list 630 within the channels list 616.The email message 634 appears with an identifier 632 that may beselectable to subscribe to “Mike's Baby” channel. In particular, achannel tool 124 may detect that the email message 634 from Mikecorresponds to a content channel 122 and in response cause theidentifier 632, e.g. star icon, to appear in the inbox and/or adds the“Mike's Baby” channel item to the new channels list 630 with a subscribeoption. Since new content is available for “Mike's Baby” channel, theidentifier 632 may also appear with the “Mike's Baby” channel item inthe new channels list 630.

Assume further that Kyle interacts with the user interface 116′ tosubscribe to “Mike's Baby” channel. He may do so by selecting the staricon that appears in the inbox 614, selecting the “Mike's Baby” channelitem in the new channels list 630, selecting the subscribe option,through interaction with the menu bar 604, or in another suitable way.By subscribing, Kyle causes “Mike's Baby” channel to be “pinned” to theuser interface 116′ he uses for his email. In particular, subscribing toa content channel 122 may cause a corresponding update to be reflectedin the user interface 116′ as illustrated by comparison of FIG. 6 andFIG. 7.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an example implementation 700 is depictedshowing the user interface 116′ of FIG. 6 following interaction tosubscribe to a content channel 122. For example, FIG. 7 illustrates theuser interface 116′ which has been updated to reflect Kyle's interactionto subscribe to “Mike's Baby” channel. Note that the email message 634has been removed from the message inbox 612 and from the new channelslist 630. Further, “Mike's Baby” channel appears as a content channel122 that is “pinned” to the active channel list 628.

The “Mike's Baby” channel is illustrated as being selected to causecorresponding content portions to appear in the message display area614. Observe that content portions in “Mike's Baby” channel have beenrearranged relative to the “Car Nuts” channel of FIG. 6 in accordancewith an arrangement Mike may have selected when configuring the “Mike'sBaby” channel. Moreover, different content portions may be configured toappear and disappear when different content channels 122 are selected.Accordingly, a selection of different content channels 122 may cause acorresponding change in a user interface 116′, as illustrated in FIG. 6and FIG. 7.

Reflect upon the various example content channels 122 appearing in FIG.6 and FIG. 7. These include some content channels 122 that maycorrespond to social networks of people having common interests,relationships, and so forth. For example, “Mike's Baby” channel isorganized around a group of Mike's friends and family. The “CollegeFriends” channel may correspond to a group of friends who attendedcollege together and utilize the content channel 122 to keep in touch.Likewise the “Car Nuts” channel may correspond to a social network ofpeople connected through their common interest in cars. In the socialnetworking context, content channels 122 may enable the kind ofinteraction that is available through social networking sites and thatis conveniently available by delivery of electronic messages 120 tousers in their inboxes. Moreover, by delivering content channels 122 viaelectronic messaging between clients 104 and clients 106, concerns withposting information on public websites may be avoided.

Some content channels 122 may also correspond to business entities suchas merchants, advertisers, service providers, and the like. In thebusiness context, content channels 122 may provide new mechanisms foradvertising products, delivering product information, distributing salesand special offers, providing product support, obtaining registrationand/or demographic data, and so forth.

For example, an outdoor equipment retailer may configure an “OutdoorStore” channel and deliver it via an electronic message 120. Note thatan email message corresponding to the “Outdoor Store” channel appears inthe message inbox 612 in FIGS. 6 and 7. The “Outdoor Store” channel maybe configured as a periodic newsletter and/or sale flyer that may besent directly to subscribers. Rather than clog the inboxes of thesubscribers, the “Outdoor Store” channel may be “pinned” to the channellist 616 of a subscriber. An identifier 632 may then appear next to the“Outdoor Store” channel in the channel list 616 whenever the newsletteris updated. In another example, the “Fly Away Airlines” channel depictedin FIGS. 6 and 7 may be sent by an airline company to participants in afrequent flyer program. The “Fly Away Airlines” channel may containtravel promotions, travel information, airline notices, links to theairline web site, advertisements from advertisers, and so forth. Thus,content channels 122 corresponding to business entities may beconfigured in various ways to provide new mechanisms for delivery ofcontent from advertisers, merchants, service providers, and otherbusinesses.

Having considered example user interfaces related to content channels,consider now a discussion of example devices that may be employed toprovide content channels for electronic messaging in one or moreembodiments.

Example Devices

FIG. 8 illustrates an example computing device 800 that may implementthe various embodiments described above. Computing device 800 may be,for example, clients 104 and 106 of FIG. 1, a server of a serviceprovider 102, or another suitable computing device. The computing device800 may be configured as a messaging device that is capable of sending,receiving, and/or distributing various electronic messages 120 via oneor more messaging systems, such as the example system 200 of FIG. 2 orin the environment of FIG. 1.

Computing device 800 includes one or more processors or processing units802, one or more memory and/or storage components 804, one or moreinput/output (I/O) devices 806, and a bus 808 that allows the variouscomponents and devices to communicate one to another. The bus 808represents one or more of several types of bus structures, including amemory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an acceleratedgraphics port, and a processor or local bus using a variety of busarchitectures. The bus 808 may include wired and/or wireless buses.

Memory/storage component 804 represents one or more computer storagemedia. Memory/storage component 804 may include volatile media (such asrandom access memory (RAM)) and/or nonvolatile media (such as read onlymemory (ROM), Flash memory, optical disks, magnetic disks, and soforth). Memory/storage component 804 may include fixed media (e.g., RAM,ROM, a fixed hard drive, etc.) as well as removable media (e.g., a Flashmemory drive, a removable hard drive, an optical disk, and so forth).

One or more input/output devices 806 allow a user to enter commands andinformation to computing device 800, and also allow information to bepresented to the user and/or other components or devices. Examples ofinput devices include a keyboard, a cursor control device (e.g., amouse), a microphone, a scanner, and so forth. Examples of outputdevices include a display device (e.g., a monitor or projector),speakers, a printer, a network card, and so forth.

Various techniques may be described herein in the general context ofsoftware or program modules. Generally, software includes routines,programs, objects, components, data structures, and so forth thatperform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Animplementation of these modules and techniques may be stored on ortransmitted across some form of computer-readable media.Computer-readable media may include a variety of available medium ormedia that may be accessed by a computing device. By way of example, andnot limitation, computer-readable media may comprise “computer-readablestorage media”.

Software or program modules, including the channel tool 124, channelmanager module 114, and other program modules, may be embodied as one ormore instructions stored on computer-readable storage media. Computingdevice 800 may be configured to implement particular functionscorresponding to the software or program modules stored oncomputer-readable storage media. Such instructions may be executable byone or more articles of manufacture (for example, one or more computingdevices 800, and/or processors 802) to implement techniques for contentchannels, as well as other techniques. Such techniques include, but arenot limited to, the example procedures described herein. Thus,computer-readable storage media may be configured to store instructionsthat when executed by one or more device of a messaging environment orsystem cause various techniques for content channels.

Computer-readable storage media includes volatile and non-volatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in a method or technologysuitbale for storage of information such as computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.Computer-readable storage media may include, but is not limited to, RAM,ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, hard disks, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or another tangible media or article of manufacturesuitable to store the desired information and which may be accessed by acomputer.

CONCLUSION

Although the content channel techniques have been described in languagespecific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to beunderstood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to thespecific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features andacts are disclosed as example forms of implementing the content channeltechniques.

1. A method comprising: creating a content channel configured tointegrate multiple content portions of different types and definearrangement of the multiple content portions one to another; forming anelectronic message including the content channel for communication todesignated recipients; and distributing the electronic message includingthe content channel to the designated recipients, the electronic messagehaving data sufficient to enable client devices used by the designatedrecipients to receive the electronic message to: ascertain that theelectronic message includes the content channel; render the multiplecontent portions as arranged by the content channel in a message displayportion of a respective messaging user interface; and automaticallyobtain updates made to one or more of the multiple content portions ofthe content channel.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:detecting updates made to one or more of the multiple content portionsof the content channel; and pushing the updates to the designatedrecipients to enable the client devices used by the designatedrecipients to output the content channel with updated content portions.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple content portions includeat least one interactive portion operable by the designated recipientsto make updates to the content channel and cause the updates to bepushed to other recipients.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereindistributing the electronic message comprises sending the contentchannel as an email to one or more of the designated recipients.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein distributing the electronic message comprisessending the content channel as an instant message to one or more of thedesignated recipients.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the designatedrecipients comprises a group of contacts established by the user inconnection with the social networking service as a distribution list forthe content channel.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiplecontent portions integrated to create the content channel include one ormore of text, images, video, feeds, a message board, a blog, an applet,or script.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating occursresponsive to user selections of the multiple content portions toinclude in the content channel via a user interface for creation ofcontent channels exposed by a service provider.
 9. The method of claim1, wherein the content channel is configured as a mark-up language pagethat is distributed to each of the designated recipients.
 10. The methodof claim 1, wherein electronic message includes content for the contentchannel that is distributed individually to each of the designatedrecipients.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic messageincludes a notification for the content channel that enables each of thedesignated recipients to individually access and download content forthe content channel.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein content channelis further configured to include a distribution list of the designatedrecipients and permissions for interaction of the designated recipientswith the content channel.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the contentchannel is distributed to the designated recipients via the electronicmessage without posting information regarding the content channel on apublicly accessible website.
 14. A messaging device comprising: one ormore processors and memory; and one or more modules stored in the memoryand executable via the one or more processors to: obtain a contentchannel associated with an electronic message distributed to a messagingaccount associated with a messaging application and configured toinclude message content portions and interactive mark-up languagecontent portions; visually identify the association of the electronicmessage with the content channel within a list of messages displayed viaa user interface for the messaging application using an icon designatedto identify content channels; and responsive to selection of theelectronic message via the list of messages, render the content channelincluding the message content portions and interactive mark-up languagecontent portions in a message display area of the user interface for themessaging application.
 15. The messaging device of claim 14, wherein theicon is selectable to subscribe to the content channel to cause updatesmade to the content channel to be automatically communicated to themessaging device.
 16. The messaging device of claim 14, wherein the iconis selectable to pin the content channel as an item in a content channellist of the messaging user interface for the messaging account.
 17. Themessaging device of claim 14, wherein the content channel is includedwith the electronic message distributed to the messaging account. 18.One or more computer-readable storage devices comprising instructionsthat, when executed by one or more devices of a messaging system, causethe one or more devices to: configure a content channel to integratemultiple content portions of different types including one or moreinteractive mark-up language content portions and define arrangement ofthe multiple content portions one to another; and distribute the contentchannel as an electronic message to a group of designated recipients,the electronic message having data sufficient to enable client devicesused by the designated recipients to receive the electronic message to:ascertain that the electronic message includes the content channel;visually identify inclusion of the content channel in the electronicmessage within a list of messages displayed via a user interface for amessaging application using an icon designated to identify contentchannels; and responsive to selection of the electronic message via thelist of messages, render the content channel including the one or moreinteractive mark-up language content portions in a message display areaof the user interface for the messaging application.
 19. One or morecomputer-readable storage devices of claim 18, wherein the instructions,when executed, further cause the one or more devices to: detect updatesmade to one or more of the multiple content portions of the contentchannel; and push the updates to the designated recipients to enable theclient devices used by the designated recipients to output the updatedcontent portions.
 20. One or more computer-readable storage devices ofclaim 18, wherein the icon is selectable to pin the content channel asan item in a content channel list of the user interface for themessaging application.